February 20, 2009

Free to a good home

Surely, you don't mean me

February is never a good month for the creatures in my household. Long stretches of cold weather and too much time trapped inside the house means hissing and snarling and fighting over territory. The humans, at least, stick mostly with swear words and empty threats. The cats? They pee on stuff. This is Gretel, a cat who came to us ten years ago as a stray. She doesn't know why anyone would put HER outside in the snow. Those crazy humans just don't appreciate the smell of cat urine.

And yes, the title is a joke. We aren't really giving her away.

16 comments:

fuquinay said...

I don't know anyone who'd take a house-peeing cat, even if it's free! My cat days are over, I think.

Purple Hydrangea said...

she's a purty kitty! she never do anyfing bad! crazy hoomans...

kim wells said...

She is very pretty. Wouldn't it be nice if cat pee smelled more like roses?

Rana said...

Two products: Feliway and Urine-Off. The first reduces the likelihood of stress-based pissing, the second removes it when it does occur.

I can't recommend the Urine-Off more highly, and my parents had good success with the Feliway.

(I love her expression in this picture!)

Overeducated Twit said...

What a beautiful face.

jo(e) said...

Kim: Maybe cat urine will evolve to smell like flowers. That would be a great adaptation.

Rana: Yeah, I've used both. I think, actually, I got the Urine-off idea from you and the Feliway idea from Songbird. I think the main problem is that in the winter time, our house is too small for six cats.

kathy a. said...

i just had to push gretel's evil twin away from the desk so i could see the monitor. they even look alike, down to "that look."

persephone has peed on every so many things -- we cannot put christmas presents under the tree; two area rugs, ruined; the best was probably a bankers box of documents that i was supposed to return to someone. now she confines herself to pooping in the bathtub. every. single. day.

Anonymous said...

I posted a similar notice a couple of years ago when one of mine took to peeing in the clothes dryer. Just try to get THAT stench out.

Rana said...

Yeah, 6 cats would be in the danger zone. Three or fewer, you can deal. More than 10, the cats shift into pride mode rather than individuals-fighting-for-territory mode.

Are they all female? Or a mix?

jo(e) said...

We've got five females and one male. When the weather is warm, some of them spend most of their time outside, and that helps a lot. It's just these cold spells in the winter that create havoc.

JaneB said...

I love her expression! What a great photo

But these stories help me when I need to repeat the mantra: small town house, one cat enough, small town house, one cat enough...

Can you make some outside kennel-type places, little cat barns that are insulated and full of hay or something, that they could sometimes go out to to get a break? My friend in Sweden puts her cats out firmly around midday for a couple of hours even when it's cold, saying in her charming accent "They have fur coats, it is only right that they should use them!"

Patti said...

I have 2 cats I'd like to get rid of. Just tired of taking care of so many animals...

Rana said...

I have to admit I keep coming back to this post, just so I can gaze upon that funny cat face. It's good that she's cute, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

She is a beauty but I can see why you'd consider giving her away.

Andromeda Jazmon said...

She is beautiful and looks very intelligent. I have a couple cat psychology and behavior mod. books I would be happy to pass on to you if you are interested. They are actually very helpful. Just send me your snail mail.

cloudscome at yahoo dot com

zelda1 said...

I triple love my hardwood floors because my kitty isn't confused by the texture of carpet. So far, she does the litterbox.